


Bedtime Story

by spacedaydreamer



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Fandom
Genre: Gen, it's painfully fluffy, junpei telling quark a bedtime story, junpei's a good grandpa, that goodbittersweet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 16:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10971162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedaydreamer/pseuds/spacedaydreamer
Summary: Quark had never asked for something like this before, but Junpei didn't see any reason to say no. After all, what kid didn't like bedtime stories? He'd just have to try his best to figure out what sort of story he could actually tell.





	Bedtime Story

“Granpa? Can you tell me a bedtime story?”

Quark looked up at Junpei with large, expectant eyes. He’d never asked for anything like _this_ before- where’d it come from? Maybe it was just a sign of his age, he supposed that _most_ kids this young got bedtime stories. Still, Junpei really didn’t know many… he’d have to just make one up as he went along.

“Well… I suppose so.”

“Yay!”

Quark shuffled over on his bed to give Junpei room to sit down on the side, waiting with bated breath for Junpei to start. He’d only turned four a few weeks ago, but he’d grown so quickly that Junpei continually found himself surprised.

“Let’s see… How about this one? It all starts a long, long time ago… There was a far-off land, and in that land, there was a beautiful princess.”

“What was her name?”

“H-huh?”

“Her name! A beautiful princess has to have a name, right?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Junpei folded his arms for a second, before the name popped into his head. With it came the story he wanted to tell- perhaps melancholic, but he could embellish to give Quark a happy ending. “The princess’s name was Akane. She was known for her wondrous beauty and kindness, but when she was still young a tragedy struck her family. Her parents passed away, and a fierce dragon came to reside in the palace; blocking anyone from ever seeing the princess.”

“What was the dragon’s name?”

“Oh, that’s easy. His name was Aoi.”

“His name sounds a lot like the princess’s!”

“Hush, Quark. I can’t tell the story if you keep interrupting.”

His eyes went wide and he quickly nodded his head, clapping his hand over his mouth.

“Now, many years passed, but no one was ever able to free the princess from the dragon. Knights from all over tried to slay the mighty beast, but none succeeded.

It was a stormy day when a certain knight came across the palace. He hadn’t _wanted_ to take the job of slaying the dragon, but his family had insisted upon it, for the sake of his honour-”

“What was the knight’s name?”

“H-He didn’t have a name.”

“Huh?! _Everyone_ has a name!” Quark crossed his arms, pouting at Junpei. “Granpa, are you making a joke? It’s not very funny.”

Crap, that wasn’t good. Junpei could hardly just use his _own_ name, then Quark would _totally_ be able to tell that this wasn’t 100% a fictional story. Why did the kid have to be so inquisitive… Junpei sighed, and quickly came up with the best idea he could.

“Uh, the knight’s name was Star.”

“Star?”

“Yep. Now, are you gonna let me continue telling the story?” Quark’s hand went back over his mouth, and Junpei chuckled. “Alright, so... where was I? Oh, right. Anyways, Star approached the dragon, refusing to draw his sword. He called out to the mighty beast instead, _‘dragon! I implore you, set the princess free!’_

Of course, the dragon didn’t listen. He blew a stream of fire at Star, and demanded he leave immediately. Not wanting to fight, Star obliged. However, he didn’t give up there. Every day for the next month, he would return. Each time, he asked the dragon to set the princess free- each time, he’d run away with a bit of his hair on fire.”

At this he lightly tugged at a bit of Quark’s hair, making him giggle.

“After a month, Star stopped asking for the dragon to set the princess free. Instead, he brought things- a book, some food he’d made, a toy, a letter- he’d give them to the dragon, and ask that the princess got them. The dragon was confused and never responded, continuing to chase Star away. After two months, Star had gotten used to his routine. He’d talk to the dragon, although he never got a response. This went on for a very long time- it wasn’t until the sixth month, that the dragon finally responded.

‘ _Dragon, I must say, it’s certainly tiring not knowing a name to call you by. Do you have a name?’_

_‘I have a name, but it is not one spoken by human tongue.’_

_‘Well then, what does princess Akane call you? Certainly, she must have a name for her friend.’_

_‘…’_

_‘Well, I should be going now, dragon. I will return tomorrow.’_

_‘……Aoi. You may call me Aoi, strange knight.’_

Star smiled brightly when he left that day, glad that Aoi would trust him. He felt like he’d made a friend, and even if he’d never met the princess, he desperately hoped that she was smiling. Star had a strong feeling, he knew that princess Akane had the most beautiful smile, one that would light up an entire room when it happened.”

“Wow… that’s what a princess is like?”

“Yeah.”

“I wanna meet a princess someday…”

“Maybe you will, Quark. You never know.”

He seemed positively ecstatic at the possibility, falling quiet again to let Junpei speak but fidgeting in that way he always did when he was excited.

“Anyways, it was a month after that, when something bad happened. Star arrived to find a group of knights beating up Aoi. He recognized them as the same group who were known for being cruel to wildlife in the area, and Star immediately jumped in front of Aoi. He was no match for all of them, and they beat him up bad- but in the end they got bored, and left him lying on the ground.

_‘Strange knight, why would you risk yourself for a dragon? Were you not tasked with rescuing princess Akane?’_

Star smiled and laughed, pulling something out of his pocket.

_‘You’re both my friends. I wouldn’t want to make Akane sad, and I get the feeling she’d be sad if she lost you.’_

At this, he held up a little object to Aoi, smiling the best he could with a split lip, two black eyes, and a pretty large goose egg on his forehead.

_‘I got this for Akane, it’s a for-you doll. I’m gonna have to leave soon; probably for a long time, and I didn’t want her to think I’d forget her. This way, no matter how far away I am, I hope that she’ll know that a little bit of me is nearby. And, I got one for you too, of course.’_

Aoi had picked up the one, and after doing so Star produced another little doll from his pocket. The two dolls matched, both looking just a little bit like him. He made sure Aoi took them both before waving and walking away, having to travel to someplace very distant.”

Junpei paused for a moment, gauging Quark’s reaction. He was completely entranced by the story, waiting with his mouth half-open for Junpei to continue.

“Nine years later, Star returned to the palace, but there was no trace of Akane _or_ Aoi. They’d both just… disappeared. However, Star wasn’t discouraged. He knew that he’d find them again, someday. And so, he started to look. He spent many long years looking, living through countless events. He experienced friendships, loss, betrayal, confusion… but he never gave up on finding them.

It wasn’t until a long, long time later, when Star finally found Akane and Aoi again. At that point, he’d even taken in a child,“ he continued before Quark could interrupted with the question he knew was coming, coming up with something on the spot. “Lepton, was his name. This was the first time that Star had ever seen Akane, and she was old like him… but the moment she smiled, Star knew that he’d found her. He’d been right- her smile lit up the the entire world around her.

The four of them lived happily after that, having finally reached their happy ending.”

He finished the story and looked down at Quark, but the kid looked strangely introspective. It was a bit of a funny look on him- he was emulating the pose Junpei tended to make when he was deep in thought, exaggerating it to a point where it was almost comical.

“Granpa, I don’t think the knight’s name was Star.”

“Huh? What’re you talking about, I said his name was Star.”

“I think his name was Junpei. Like yours, granpa.”

“W-well, that’s…” _Damn_ , he was smart. Junpei sighed in defeat, making a mental note to come up with sneakier names the next time he had to make up a story. “…fine, ok. His name was Junpei.”

“So… the knight never found the princess then, did he? Or the dragon?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“… Does that make him sad?”

“Not at all, Quark. Because the knight realized something along the way- he had his son, who he loved very much. And, his son’s smile was _just_ as wonderful as princess Akane’s smile.”

Quark’s face lit up in that exact smile that lifted Junpei’s heart, gasping in surprise.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Now, I think it’s time for our little prince to go to sleep.”

Quark nodded reluctantly, lying down on his bed and snuggling into the sheets. Junpei stood up, ready to walk out of the room- when he felt a small hand grabbing onto his.

“Granpa? I think the knight still has a chance. He’ll find the princess and the dragon someday.”

“… Yeah. I think it’s possible, Quark. Now, goodnight.”

“G’night.”

**Author's Note:**

> Things I like: Junpei being a good grandpa to Quark, and cute familial fluff  
> Things I need to write more of: Junpei being a good grandpa to Quark, and cute familial fluff
> 
> This was a two-birds-one-stone situation, and lemme just say that I'm very happy with the result. I left a few things a bit vague on purpose- this could be normal timeline Junpei or safe au!Junpei, I won't tell. One's certainly a happier story than the other, but in the end, I don't think Junpei really minds regardless. After all, he's just happy enough where he is, raising Quark.
> 
> Thank you for reading! And I hope the story itself was a cute one, Junpei was definitely doing character voices each time a person spoke during his story.


End file.
